David Lloyd Creator of the V for Vendetta Guy Fawkes Illustration and the Fifth of Dissent

Originally a raucous celebration of the famous 1605 failure of a Catholic group to assassinate the Protestant King James I, it has become a night to enjoy a more generalized theme of holding one’s leaders to account. To have a bonfire and a pint with friends. It’s a part of Britain’s popular culture and has become, through many paths, familiar to us in the United States.

No longer a story of treason, told by the victorious, but a story of fighting for freedom, told by the oppressed. The words of Alan Moore and paintings of David Lloyd spawned a new fable that asks us all to answer the call to individualism, citizenship and participation.

This year, in the United States, Guy Fawkes day comes on the eve of Election Day. November the sixth will see Americans head again to the polls to give their verdict on the state of their current leadership and the state of the union.

What lessons and what advice does ‘V For Vendetta’ offer to us in the States?

To gain insight, we speak to David Lloyd, the artist responsible for the haunting images of ‘V For Vendetta.’ The man responsible for the revivification of Anarchy’s face. The international symbol of Anonymous. The calling card of white hat hackers. The mask of dissent.

Virginia Mills : To begin, I am bound to ask you about your feelings on the Guy Fawkes mask image that you revived and enhanced for ‘V For Vendetta’ in 1982 and the image’s apparent impact on worldwide protest identity. It has been employed by Anonymous, the Occupy movement and any latter day protest of government and financial oppression. I’ve worn it myself. I believe the story and images have helped to promote citizen protest and civic participation. However now, post Women’s March 2017, we see the desire for anonymity fading. How do you ultimately feel seeing the image you created become a worldwide symbol of anti-authoritarian protest? How do you now see the progression of that symbology, the united anonymous front of The People, moving to a more unmasked and personally engaged approach?

David Lloyd : Well, the unity of protest that a universal symbol of protest gives is only that. A protest of a general kind that has no conventional political or cultural base. A protest of a specific kind by groups with a clear agenda that is supported by a supporting section of the mass media, like the Women’s March, or fascists – who have lots of support in the media it seems to me – is a different thing. Such groups have support amongst wider society and don’t need a universal linking ‘ brand ‘ of protest. No conventional media supports groups like Anonymous, or Occupy, or the varying protests against some authoritarian government somewhere in the world. In those cases, it’s good to be a unified whole and in a generality of protest, and with a unifying image of resistance, and, of course, it is also useful to be ‘ anonymous ‘ in such circumstances so that you can’t be logged and targeted for persecution by those who don’t want the established order upset. Of course, the forces against such protest say the masks give freedom of identification to damage-makers, which also happens to be true, but most such damage is caused by the venting of frustration caused by the immovable nature of the forces in power, not malice.

Virginia Mills : As the protagonist ‘V’ has doubtless inspired people to speak up for their rights and freedoms, do you likewise feel that the character’s terrorist aspect may have inspired less positive activity?

David Lloyd : No.

Virginia Mills : There is a clear wave of authoritarianism spreading across the globe. Brazil, Poland and now the US come to mind. We seem to need ‘V’ now more than even we might have in the 80s and 90s. When you and Alan Moore were developing the comic’s dystopian Norsefire regime, was it rooted firmly in your contemporary experiences, history, or was it more speculation of what would possibly come? Do you see any familiar tactics and methods, even in just imagery, of Norsefire in our present-day concerns?

David Lloyd : The model for the society in V was based on Germany in the 30’s – one coming out of desperation, ending up with a leader they accepted and in consequence accepting their own corruption. V tries to pull them out of it. Obviously the similarities are clear. Now, yes, the world is full of societies who are desperate because of economical situations, and many are ripe and ready to follow ‘ strong ‘ leaders if they haven’t done so already, and they’re ready to accept scapegoats like immigrants for their ills when the fault lies elsewhere in places they are too untrained to recognise, or unwilling to face. Now, though, it’ll all be more subtle than the overt wearing of uniforms. They’ll be in plain clothes.

Virginia Mills : I was watching the film version of ‘V’ recently and was struck by the attention to recreating much of your original atmosphere in backgrounds, now-iconic images, certain scenes. Did you have any consultation on the film?Did that have any effect on how you approach your work now?

David Lloyd : The Wachowskis were fans of V from way back. No surprise they wanted as much of V in atmosphere and detail in the movie. I also think that appreciation of V and what it meant to them, led to them to wanting to add their specific input into the adaptation. I had no part in the script or filming, though they showed me the script. I knew it would make for good cinema for the wide cinema audience it needed to reach, and it proved so. I was very happy to support it when it was released in every practical way I could, and its success has benefited the book’s sales, which means that many who saw the movie now have both the original version of the story and another to enjoy as well. Nothing of the experience of seeing the cinema version has had any effect on me other than making me wish a film adaptation of my crime thriller, Kickback, could be made and direct viewers of that to the original book, which suffered so badly at the hands of its negligent US publisher that few people know it exists.

Virginia Mills : You have done so much other work in your career. Do you feel the success and attention on ‘V’ has enhanced or hindered that work’s reception?

David Lloyd : No. I use my success as credentials to inform, and it can work well if you have the right people to help you out in doing it. Plus I am extremely lucky to have produced something that is not only a great entertainment, but really means something, says something important, and has affected many people deeply in a way I find humbling. Any work that you do on anything that involves you communicating with people is only partly you – on top of that there is a mystery of that thing you’re only a channel for from that gift you’ve been given to do good work. I just do my best to tell a story well, and the rest is in the stars.

Virginia Mills : ‘V For Vendetta’ started in a serial anthology and now we find you still involved in that kind of publishing enterprise with ‘Aces Weekly.’ What draws you to anthology? What about the form appeals to you?

David Lloyd : Well, I like anthologies, and they were once the core of British weekly comics publishing. We wanted to copy that form, and also evoke the Sunday pages – something for everyone. Of course, they’ve been a risk in US print comics publishing for years, and we knew this when we began Aces Weekly, but we were web publishing, so in an economically-different situation as well as in a different readership situation. And we wanted a wide reader base, because we depend on subscription, so it was better to have a wide appeal rather than a niche appeal. But it also happens to be the case, that, on a solidly practical level, Aces Weekly couldn’t exist as a regular weekly cyberspace periodical in any other form. It needs different creators to be working on different strips at the same time to maintain its regular schedule.

Virginia Mills :I would love for our readership to learn more about ‘Aces Weekly.’ Please tell us how and why you developed it, who else is involved in it.

David Lloyd :I really regret shortage of time is going to stop me doing that widely here, to catch your deadline, but everything anyone needs to know is at the website www.acesweekly.co.uk!

Virginia Mills : Creators must create but how do you continue to stay inspired? How much of your time is still devoted to comics and what other pursuits you have outside of comics? From where do you derive your inspirations?

David Lloyd : I’m inspired by change. If you’re not doing anything new when you can do something new, what are you here for? I don’t write and draw anymore, except for the simple sketches I do at events in combination with introducing the unaware to Aces Weekly, but publishing Aces Weekly is creative in itself. I’m working with great mainstream industry guys like Jeff Vaughn and Bo Hampton, and working with incredible creators just out of art school. And we have a policy of freedom that allows for the unconventional as well as the conventional. It’s all very inspiring! The only thing I regret is that it takes up a lot of my time, and I wish it didn’t take up quite so much.

Virginia Mills : David, I thank you for your time today and for your good works. We will have more information regarding ‘Aces Weekly’ in the future. Watch this space!

As for the Sixth of November, I humbly offer V’s words.

“Because while the truncheon may be used in lieu of conversation, words will always retain their power. Words offer the means to meaning, and for those who will listen, the enunciation of truth. And the truth is, there is something terribly wrong with this country, isn’t there? Cruelty and injustice, intolerance and oppression. And where once you had the freedom to object, to think and speak as you saw fit, you now have censors and systems of surveillance coercing your conformity and soliciting your submission. How did this happen? Who’s to blame? Well certainly there are those more responsible than others, and they will be held accountable, but again truth be told, if you’re looking for the guilty, you need only look into a mirror. I know why you did it. I know you were afraid. Who wouldn’t be? War, terror, disease. There were a myriad of problems which conspired to corrupt your reason and rob you of your common sense. ” ― Alan Moore, V For Vendetta

Related posts

What is C.H.U.D.

CHUD is a compendemonious look at horror. Horror in literature, film, video, anime, art, graphic novels, music and (importantly) science. We cover developing projects, news, and speculation. Always check the story to see if we are bringing you news of the fictional or the real things happening in a world gone mad with technology.

Categories

Recent posts

Editorial comments/requests, please CONTACT US. CHUD.com is a privately owned website that features a great deal of rumor and speculation, and must therefore be read as entertainment. All original content, both graphical and textual, is the intellectual property of CHUD.COM. CHUD.COM is no way affiliated with the film C.H.U.D.